Jade Damarell, a seasoned skydiver with over 500 jumps to her name, deliberately plunged to her demise from 15,500 feet after a personal relationship came to a sudden end the night before.
The devastating conclusion was delivered by Dr. Leslie Hamilton during a public inquest at Crook Civic Centre in County Durham, months after Damarell’s body was found on farmland near Fleming Field on April 27.
The investigation not only revealed that she had not deployed her main parachute, but that she also turned off her automatic activation device, which was meant to trigger a reserve chute in case of emergency.
“There was no malfunction. There was no accident,” Hamilton said. “She chose not to use her parachutes. She chose not to use her safety device.”
A skydiver fatally jumped from a plane after breaking up with her boyfriend the night before
The 32-year-old had spent the previous day completing six jumps without incident. That morning, she was seen calmly eating toast at the base café. Nothing seemed out of place, her colleagues recalled, Jade was smiling, relaxed and in peace.
But her smile was not one that came from happiness, it was the gesture of someone who was finally ready to let go.
The 32-year-old had spent the previous day completing six jumps without incident. That morning, she was seen calmly eating toast at the base café. Nothing seemed out of place, her colleagues recalled, Jade was smiling, relaxed and in peace.
But her smile was not one that came from happiness, it was the gesture of someone who was finally ready to let go.
When investigators examined her phone, they found a lock screen message that read “Check Notes.”
Inside the Notes folder were goodbye messages to her loved ones. In them, she apologized for what she was about to do, thanked them for all their support throughout the years, and left them instructions for her financial affairs.
“She made the choice to fall,” the coroner told her parents, who watched the proceedings via video link. “And I am so sorry for your loss.”
Damarell’s family described her as “a brilliant, beautiful, brave and truly extraordinary person.”